Mina found herself thrust into the other room. ‘This is Mina, she’s just arrived.’ She waved at the people in the room as a plate with a slice of cake on it was pushed into her hands. ‘They can introduce themselves. I must bring more coffee. More people are expected.
‘After café and cake, I’ll take you up to your room.’ Amelie glanced up at the cuckoo clock and frowned. ‘The new guests are late. They should be here. But your train was on time.’
‘It was. The taxi rank was very busy.’
‘Ah yes, and one of the taxis has broken down.’ She walked over to the window, and whatever she saw relieved her. ‘It’s OK, they’ve just arrived.’
Mina found herself a seat, helped herself to one of the mugs of black coffee from one of the trays, and sat down on one of the sofas.
‘You just arrived?’ asked her nearest neighbour, an older man with the sort of serious, sophisticated, wireless-framed glasses she associated with Europeans, which didn’t quite go with his extremely bushy eyebrows.
‘Yes,’ replied Mina, picking up her slice of cake and giving it a quick study, her eye caught by the unusual-looking ingredients. It reminded her of a rocky road slice, with unidentified layers among the cherries. ‘This looks delicious.’
‘It’s a very traditional Swiss cake, but no one makes it quite like Amelie, that’s why so many of us come back time and time again. She’s full, you know, and she only started a year ago. I think it’s the café and kuchen hour every day.’
‘What, this?’ Mina waved a hand around the room. Everyone was talking and eating. A symphony of harmony, all cemented together with the glue of cake.
‘Yes, four o’clock. Complimentary cake. The only price is you have to stay and eat it around the fire, and talk to your neighbours.’
‘Sounds very civilised to me.’
‘Some of us have become resigned.’ He gave her a long-suffering grimace. ‘And now I find I can chat with my fellow men a little more easily, as long as I only have to do it once a day.’
Mina laughed. ‘I’m sure it’s good for you.’
‘Hmm,’ he muttered, ‘that’s exactly what Amelie said.’
‘How long have you been coming here?’
‘Since she opened the place last year. I was one of the naysayers. Led protests against it.’
Mina refrained from raising a ‘really’ eyebrow but she didn’t manage to keep her face expressionless.
‘I know. Now I come for cake at four a couple of times a week.’
‘Are you staying here?’
‘No, I live in the village, but we have a deal. I chop all her wood for her, and she feeds me cake once or twice a week. That’s Amelie for you. Turns foes into friends – and then chokes up their arteries to get her revenge.’ His weathered face, made golden by the sun, split into a goblin grin. ‘I’m also a wine merchant, so I put together her wine list. We’re good friends now.’
‘I’m Kurt,’ interrupted another man, leaning over and putting out his hand. ‘I’m here for the weekend with my wife and daughter. I’m posted in Geneva but we come from Canada. We visit once a month for the hiking and to get out of the city. And…’ He paused and held up his slice of cake. ‘For this, like Johannes was saying.’
‘Nice to meet you both.’ Mina was amused and charmed by their easy friendliness. She certainly couldn’t imagine this happening in a hotel in England. ‘I’m Mina.’ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door from the boot room open and some instinctive sixth sense made her turn and look at the three men crowding through, talking in loud, we’re-really-pleased-to-see-each-other type voices. ‘I’m here on holiday and I’m Amelie’s—’ The words died in her mouth as one of the men unwound a scarlet-red scarf, releasing a burst of familiar sun-streaked curls.
For a moment she thought she was imagining things, but when he turned around, the sight of him made her wonder if serendipity did exist after all.
Chapter Six
After a hot shower, which dispelled the travel fug, she put some fresh makeup on – hell, yes it was warpaint – and her favourite black trousers that made her legs look slimmer and longer than they really were (even Hannah cautiously agreed that she suffered from chunky thigh syndrome), and did good things to her bottom, which was disproportionately generous compared to other parts of her, but still cellulite-free. She added a soft, cashmere, pale pink jumper to the ensemble, knowing that it draped nicely over her boobs, enhancing her silhouette, and the colour brought out the blue of her eyes. Mina was more than happy with her body image; she was no stick insect, but she went in and out in all the right places, which counted more in her view, and she knew she was lucky with her striking colouring – the ice-white Nordic hair and the dark blue eyes which, with the right eye-shadow, looked almost indigo. She might have been a tiny bit vain about her hair, and spent a good half-hour blow-drying it into perfect shape.
Her pulse still hadn’t settled from the shock of seeing the three new arrivals and the man in the midst of them. Thankfully, they’d all seemed to know what they were doing. They’d taken keys from the young girl at the desk and went straight upstairs.
Shortly after that, she followed in their tracks as Amelie brought her up three flights of stairs to her room. She wondered, as Amelie chattered away, reminiscing about trips to England, what on earth she would say to him if they bumped into him on the way.
Her godmother had always taken her godmotherly duties very seriously, and had visited at least once a year for as long as Mina could remember.
Impulsively Mina hugged her at the top of the stairs. ‘I’m sorry I haven’t been to visit since you’ve been here. It looks so beautiful.’
‘I’m glad you’re here now. Now, I hope you like your room, this is one of my favourites.’
